Local News

The next meeting of the Los Alamos Geological Society will begin at 7:30 p.m. today at the First Christian Church, 92 East Road. The featured speaker will be Shari Kelley, a geophysicist and field geologist at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in Socorro and an adjunct professor of geology at New Mexico Tech.

The Los Alamos Family Council will hold its Fabulous Fifties Family Sock Hop. The Hop is scheduled for 6-10 p.m. March 23 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Hall on Canyon Road. Tickets are $10 per person or $25 for a family. Call 662-4160 for information.

CRC meeting

The Department of Public Utilities Charter Review Committee will hold its first meeting from 5:30-6:30 p.m. March 27, in the Community Building’s Training Room. This will primarily be an organizational meeting to appoint a chair and vice-chair and review the scope of work. The public is welcome to attend.

Volunteers needed

Telephone volunteers are needed for reading the Los Alamos Monitor on the New Mexico Newsline for the Blind. Call 662-0408.

One of Councilor Steve Girrens’ campaign platforms was to support “the positive momentum promoting regional partnerships and collaboration.”

“The big picture is, you’re always stronger if you can speak as a community. Our voice is more impactful when it’s in a collaboration coalition,” Girrens said. “And if you want to be a strong regional neighbor, that’s part of it. I think it’s on the county to lead that or support that as much as we can. Isn’t support LANL number one in our economic vitality plan?”

As one of three councilors working for the lab, Girrens felt that one place he could be most effective in building those partnerships was with the Regional Coalition for Los Alamos National Laboratory Communities. He volunteered to be Councilor Frances Berting’s alternate as liaison to the coalition.

“I thought I was in a good position to be able to understand the acronyms and understand the talk, because the talk is a little different,” Girrens said. “And just maybe be a more understanding representative.”

Things got a little hairy at Los Alamos Firehouse No. 3 Saturday as many of Los Alamos’ finest lost their locks to a good cause. Many showed up to the firehouse to get their heads shaved, thanks to some quick thinking by firefighter Micah Brittelle.
It all started when Brittelle heard that some of his colleagues with the Santa Fe Fire Department were going to a St. Baldrick’s “shave-a-thon” in Rio Rancho to help raise money for cancer research.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation raises money to research cures for childhood cancer through many events. Their trademark event, though, is where people in a company or an organization can come together and raise money for the foundation by getting their heads shaved.
“They created a team and were going to go to Rio Rancho, but when I hear of events going on like that, I like to bring it back here to our community,” Brittelle said. “Instead of having our fire department solicit donations in Rio Rancho we can do an event here in Los Alamos and have public support from our community,” he said.
And support they did get. The event raised at least $4,925, with more sure to come in.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is finally cleaning up its unfinished budget business for the long-underway 2013 budget year with a bipartisan government-wide funding bill, even as the combatants in the House and Senate gear up for votes this week on largely symbolic measures outlining stark differences between Democrats and Republicans about how to fix the nation's long-term deficit woes.

The Senate is positioned to approve the catchall spending bill Tuesday after it cleared a procedural hurdle Monday by a strong 63-35 vote. The House, which approved a narrower version two weeks ago, is expected to quickly clear the measure and ship it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

On a separate track, the GOP-controlled House and Democratic Senate are gearing up for votes this week on sharply different budget blueprints for next year and beyond. The dueling, non-binding blueprints veer off in opposite directions at the same time President Barack Obama seeks to nurture a future compromise blending new tax revenues with spending cuts beyond what his Democratic allies are willing to offer now.

If by any chance you’re out and about at the Farmer’s Market or happen upon a young, adorable-looking couple sitting at a table outside Starbucks or Ruby K’s over the next few weeks, by all means, go up and say “hi.”

By doing so, you could impact a lot of lives for the better.

You see, Chris Rondeau and Jeanette Trujillo have entered a contest. Not just any contest mind you, but a contest that if won, will give the newly-engaged couple the wedding of their dreams, as well as a honeymoon they will likely remember for the rest of their lives.

And while that alone is spectacular, the best part is that the money they raise through their participation in the contest, goes to the University of New Mexico’s Children’s Hospital.

It all started a few months ago when the two were persuaded by one of Trujillo’s friends to enter the “$50,000 New Mexico Dream Wedding Giveaway,” an annual contest and charity run by Susan Caplan, the event’s executive producer.

Engaged couples that meet the qualifications can sign up to be in the contest between January and February. The top prize is a wedding that’s supplied and serviced by about 20 sponsors, who supply everything from the wedding rings to the stationery for the bride’s big day.